NieR: Take your operator to work day
by ClassNimitz
Summary: It's field day for the YoRHa units. Operator 21O gets to spend the day with 9S on earth. Supposedly for constructive purposes. Hijinks probably ensue.
1. Chapter 1

It was that time again. The most exciting time. Some would consider it akin to Christmas, that's just how exciting it was. Every so often, a select number of YoRHa operators are chosen to spend the day with their assigned field operative. While regularly scheduled contacts helped to keep morale high, these rare occasions worked wonders on keeping spirits lively. Normally, the pairings would spend the day going over data collection and field training together. Sometimes, they might find themselves partaking in entertaining tasks such as sports or listening to music. But only after all necessary tasks for the day have been completed, or so they like to tell command that is.

Today, among the small handful of operators chosen, was operator 21o, and her assigned ground unit 9s. And neither could possibly be more excited. 9s had been waiting forever for his chance to spend the day with 21o. While 21o on the other hand, was excited to have 9s chauffeur her around to different human landmarks so she could conduct her own data collecting. So really they were both getting what they wanted.

9s was certain they would have a good time, but a part of him they didn't run into many machines. 2b was spending the day with 6o and neither 9s nor 21o specialized in combat. At the same time, however, 9s figured that if they should encounter hostiles, he could use the opportunity to show off his skills to 21o. No matter what, 9s wanted to impress 21o before the day was done.

"Analysis" pod 153 spoke out "Unit 9s should groom himself and perform regular maintenance before the arrival of operator 21o" 9s said nothing. Sometimes, he figured, it was better to just let the pods state the obvious. Arguing with them always proved fruitless anyways. Standing before an old mirror in the room given to him by Anemone, 9s proceeded to comb his hair neatly, and pat down his coat and trousers to remove wrinkles. 21o was a neat freak, and would certainly scold 9s for not looking presentable if he had so much as a single hair standing up. But all the extra work that went into grooming and maintenance was worth it if it meant getting to spend the day with the ever so serious operator. 9s really looked up to her , and thought of her as almost a mother of sorts. Not that he was capable of understanding the concept of having a mother.

Once he was finished grooming, 9s dashed out of his room and over to the access point where he stood intending to greet 21o when she arrived by transport. "Analysis" 9s let out a sigh at the sound of the pod speaking again, not entirely interested in hearing what it had to say. "Operator 21o is not scheduled to arrive for another eight minutes" 'and?' 9s thought to himself "Proposal: unit 9s should use the remaining time to retrieve a form of gift for the operator to welcome her with" 9s' eyes lit up. "That's a great idea!" The already overly excited android glanced around for something that 21o might find interesting to start her day off with.

Hopping to find 21o's gift quickly, 9s' eyes landed on a beautiful patch of flowers. He had passed that patch of flowers many times. They brought a nice sense of peace to the struggling resistance members. He dashed over to the patch of flowers and picked a small handful of the beautiful flowers before rushing back over to the transporter and stood there with a grin on his face while he waited.

9s nearly exploded from excitement as the door to the transport opened and operator 21o stepped out. "Greetings, 9s" The operator barely had even a second to finish her sentence before 9s spoke up, "Hello operator! I'm really excited that we get to spend the day together" He held the flowers forward hoping she would accept his gift. "You understand we'll be using this time to construct data collections to use in data collection right? She looked at the flowers and back at 9s "I already have a satisfactory collection of records on local flora and fauna 9s, but thank you for the thought" 9s' spirits fell more than he'd care to admit, but he wouldn't let it show. "Oh, right" He tossed the bouquet aside as 21o walked past him, taking a good long look of the resistance camp, and downloading any useful data from her observations before waving on 9s to follow her out of the camp.

9s followed behind 21o to as she approached the clearing beneath the hill. 9s watched 21o as she observed the small waterfalls that drained into a small pond where 9s and 2b liked to fish. She turned her gaze to the long, plant filled passages between buildings and the crumbled bridge being held up by enormous tree trunks. 9s could tell she was having a hard time containing her excitement. He wished that just once she would drop that professional attitude she held dear and just let herself enjoy something. He realized later than he should have that he must have been staring, for when he snapped back to reality, he found 21o waving her hand in his face and asking if he was alright. "Wha...? o-oh yea um, I'm fine, sorry 21o, I was just lost in my thoughts". "Well cut it out" She snapped coldly "We have a lot of data to collect and only eight hours to do it, so let's get a move on. He simply nodded and followed her down the hill.

"Hey um... operator?" The pair had been standing atop the roof of a small four story building, 21o examining the wildlife while 9s stood by quietly. "Yes what is it 9s?" She spoke with little enthusiasm, as if she had no real interest in his words, instead focused on two boars fighting with their tusks. "I was just hoping that maybe we could do something... fun. I found some books in the forest castle. Maybe you'd like to read them with me?". he stood in silence for a few moments while 21o pondered his idea. "I can simply sync the data from them to the bunker later. No need to spend more time than necessary collecting information that I don't really need. Besides, aren't you having fun? I find observing the planet to be quite fascinating". He should have been hurt by her rejection, but instead he figured he could use this to his advantage. "Well maybe instead of just watching animals, you'd like to explore remnants of human life? The desert is full of old housing areas that are bound to have lots of human artifacts" And with that, he had won her attention. She said nothing, but the look in her eyes when she spun around at his offer told him everything he needed to know, and he took off in the direction of the desert canyons, with 21o hot on his heels.


	2. Chapter 2

Before making their way into the canyon, 21O stopped at the access point to backup her data while 9S talked with Jackass and the shopkeeper. 9S was still fixated on the idea of getting 21O a gift that she would love. While sifting through a bin of old junk, he came across a metal cylinder that, upon shaking it, appeared as if it contained other items inside. "It's called a time capsule" Jackass spoke without 9S even having to ask. "Dug it up a few weeks ago. Apparently humans would bury them with stuff they treasured. Y'know, so that the humans of the future could know what past life was like" His curiosity was peaked; a pod filled with human treasures, 21O would go nuts over this. Without any further hesitation, 9S threw down a handful of G and pocketed the capsule, deciding that he would save it for later.

9S made his way over to 21O, who was now waiting at the entrance to the canyon zone. They had a bit of a walk before reaching the residential area, and there were sure to be hostile machine life forms between them and their destination. "Are you ready to go, operator?" 9S asked with a grin on his face. "I've been ready, 9S. I hope whatever you were buying was worth making me wait." 9S knew better than to be hurt by her words. He knew that the stoic operator was just as excited as he was to go adventuring like this. And without a second thought, he grabbed 21O's hand and hurried into the canyons with her.

The pair of androids walked along one of the many pipelines jutting out from the sand, hoping to avoid confronting any of the hostile machines that littered the desert area. 9S wasn't sure if 21O actually wanted him holding her hand, but if she did mind, she wasn't saying anything about it. Coming to the end of the pipe, 21O opted to stand at the edge, looking out over the great span of desert beneath them.

With the entire residential district in view, the operator took some time to collect data of the surrounding area and sifting through any records of the dilapidated city that would help them navigate. "Alert: multiple machine life forms detected in the nearby vicinity." Pod 153 warned. Operator 21O turned to the younger android, "9S, will you be able to fight multiple machines without the aid of 2B?" Though she would never admit it, she was genuinely concerned for 9S' well being, and he could hear it in her voice. The boy nodded and grinned. "Of course I can. You'd be surprised how well we scanner models do in combat, operator." She gave him a small look of concern before turning towards the pod 153, the two androids grabbing onto it as it slowly lowered them to the bottom of the canyon, and the two walked towards the residential area from there.

Most of the buildings were missing large portions and were half sunken in the sand. Old street lamps and cars littered the area, while remnants of road peeked up from under the sand dunes. Immediately upon entering the area, operator 21O ran in the direction of one of the old cars, digging through a pile of junk inside. 9S brushed the sand off a box laying in the road and sat down, watching his operator excitedly sift through old human remains. While watching 21O explore the ruins and collect data, 9S began to drift off.

He wasn't sure how long he was out, but he was woken up by 21O who was shaking his shoulders rather violently. "9S!" 21O screamed in his face. The frightened scanner jumped to his feet quickly with his sword at the ready "What is it, operator? what's wrong!?" There was clear worry in his voice, but the operator simply straightened her posture and spoke again, softly this time "Oh no, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to inform you that I am satisfied with the data I've collected and wish to return to the resistance camp." If 9S hadn't been wearing his visor, 21O would've seen the annoyance in his eyes. Despite the rude awakening, 9S was happy 21O was enjoying herself, and the two made their way back out of the canyons toward Jackass' campsite.

 _It gets really exciting soon. I promise._


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry I took a little while longer with this chapter, life yknow? I will try to upload regularly, especially because there's not a lot of activity happening in the nier department and I wanna change that. Also I know this one is short, I promise to overhaul the next one, my goal is atleast 1,500 words next time around. I'd love to know what you guys have think about my writing, so feel free to leave compliments, constructive criticism, and death threats if that's what you fancy. thanks lads._

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21O trailed a little ways behind 9S, more focused on organizing the data she had collected only minutes ago. Her train of thought, however, was quickly derailed by the the sudden appearance of a goliath class machine rising out of the sand. "Alert: hostile goliath class machine lifeform detected" The pod spoke out despite it being quite clearly visible to the scanner and operator. This machine was nothing new to 9S, as he had fought plenty alongside 2B. 9S simply gave 21O a sly yet cocky grin before rushing at the goliath, hacking it quickly to weaken it before slashing at it with his sword. When he came to a halt, the machine fell to pieces and exploded behind him. 9S couldn't have felt more impressed with himself.

"Alert: hostile goliath class machine lifeform detected" 9S turned to his pod with puzzled look "What are you, broken? I just killed the the damn thing" The agitated android pointed to the flaming scraps of the machine he had just slain. It was at that time, the ground beneath the android's feet began to shake. During 9S' battle, he failed to notice the goliath tank following them out of the ruins of the residential area. It rolled up on the two of them quickly, firing a barrage of projectiles that the pair struggled to dodge. 9S and pod 153 defended 21O as she ran for safety, hiding behind a rock while 9S attempted to hack the tank.

Hacking the tank was a piece of cake for 9S, causing parts of the tank to explode, sending pieces of the vehicle and machines operating it flying in every direction. Shrapnel from the explosion ripped through the sand, kicking up clouds of dust that blocked 9S' vision. Through these clouds of dust, 9S failed to see the tank's projectiles coming at him in troves, the impacts damaging his body and knocking him onto his back, wounded. The tank rolled forward, whatever machines left operating it having failed to notice 21O signaling over pod 153. The operator moved behind the tank, using the pod to launch missiles and lasers at the hostile tank, causing it to break down and explode into a bright flash of sand and flaming machine parts.

Operator 21O rushed over to 9S, the young android lying in the sand, his clothes and synthetic skin torn in spots from the shrapnel. The distressed operator helped 9S to his feet as he coughed, spitting out sand. He brushed himself off before looking up at 21O "Are you alright operator?" She gave him a confused look, opening her mouth to speak, not that he could see, ready to scold him for acting recklessly, but instead found herself laughing softly, prompting a look of bewilderment from 9S who was caught off guard by her sudden break of character. Soon enough, though, the two units were laughing together, an event the two of them could ever have predicted would happen.

The pair of YoRHa units walked back to Jackass' camp, 9S holding 21O's hand. The generally serious operator knew she should have objected to the young android's advances, but she felt calm and collected knowing he was safe under her care, and vice versa, like a mother and child. Something neither of them should be able to experience. But they decided they would try to enjoy it anyway.

Upon reaching the camp, operator 21O stopped at the access point for the second time that day, eager to send everything she had collected up to the bunker. 9S waited patiently for his turn to use the access point, taking note, yet again, of it's clever design choice. He also wondered whether or not the snacks inside were actually real, and made a mental note to try purchasing one later. 21O finished uploading her data, jotting down a memo in the process. 'Note to self, 9S has very gentle hands, and I like that about him' 9S couldn't see it, but 21O was smiling, and she wished she could share it with him. She would later, and she would make it extra special, she figured.


End file.
